apps world 2014

We’ve brought you news of some cool iOS games from the recent Apps World event, such as social photo game Revel and the 3D penguin adventure XnO. Today we look at three more games from the show.

Mr. Runner 2 is a free to play running game that you can (and should) get right now. Towerful is a tower “offense” game designed by two bright young boys. And Zato is a sword slashing game starring a blind samurai. All three games bring something new and different to the table that you’d only get from indie game developers.

TegTap is a two-man app development studio based in Arizona with a surprisingly diverse selection of games under its belt. The studio has published a variety of kids’ apps for iOS, including Dragon Maker, My Fairy Pony, and Dino Digger (some of which are also available on Mac).

On the other end of the spectrum, TegTap’s flagship title Solar Warfare is a full-fledged sci-fi shooter aimed at the more hardcore gaming crowd. With smooth 3D graphics, gigantic bosses, and intuitive controls, Solar Warfare made a strong impression during the Big Indie Pitch competition at Apps World.

Catapult games are a big deal on mobile – just look at Angry Birds and the many games the series has inspired as proof. The style of gameplay – aiming projectiles at something and trying to knock it over – works perfectly with touch-screen devices. You can classify these games as physics puzzlers, but they feel more action-oriented than most physics games.

At Apps World last week, I discovered a 3D catapult game from indie developer Digital Eclairs called XnO. The 3D perspective makes for a more interesting game (to me) than 2D games of this style. XnO also has an endearing set of characters and delightful, high quality art style to set it apart. It’s also one of the few participants in the Big Indie Pitch that has already made it to market, so you can download it right now.

Last week’s Apps World was an event dedicated to mobile games and apps - and the craft of making them. Apps World culminated with the Big Indie Pitch, a contest in which game developers pitched their games to members of the press. I look forward to telling you all about my experience with the Pitch very soon.

In the meantime, let’s look at one of the two games that won the Big Indie Pitch. New York-based developer Odin’s Hammer bought their social interaction/photo game Revel to the show. Revel is a unique photo scavenger hunt game in which players take pictures of things in their environment and try to outdo their peers. Revel could be the next big thing in mobile games, and it’s available right now on iOS.

Back in the late nineties, an arcade-style game called Gubble migrated from PC and Mac to the original Playstation. It starred a little purple alien who hopped around in a pogo stick-like vehicle and solved puzzles with simple tools like hammer and screwdriver. Several years later, developer Actual Entertainment released the first Gubble on iPhone and iPad.

At Apps World in San Francisco this week we met with Actual president Franz Lanzinger to learn about Gubble’s upcoming trip to iOS. The hammer-loving alien will soon star in Gubble Vacation Rush, a 3D endless running game. With a retro character and unique tool-based gameplay mechanics, Vacation Rush is shaping up to be a runner of a different color. See it in action in our hands-on video!

This week’s App World event in San Francisco was been dedicated to mobile games and apps. One section of the show – TV Hackfest - specifically showcased apps relating to television and video viewing.

Inside of the TV Hackfest area, we met with Anthony Rose, Co-founder and CTO off Zeebox. Zeebox is a second-screen TV app with features like a customizable TV guide, news feeds for users’ favorite shows, and discussion rooms for those shows. Anthony was kind enough to show us some of the things Zeebox can do and provide iMore with an exclusive look at the iOS update that's due out in a few days.

iMore has been known to cover a gaming event or two, whether it’s E3, GDC, or even PAX. These shows offer a great chance for us to learn about hot games coming to iOS as well as interview our favorite game developers.